Re: mantle color of ? Kelp Gull
Arlene Ripley (aripley@nestbox.com)
Thu, 18 Feb 1999 14:48:26 -0500
>On 2/18/99 10:03 AM S. Harvey Mudd, MD said
>
>> Neither Marion nor I were
>>able to convince ourselves that we could be sure there was a constant
>>distinguishable difference in the dark tones of the upper parts of the two.
At 11:09 AM 2/18/99 -0500, Elliot Kirschbaum wrote:
>We must have been looking at different Great Black-backeds. The
>difference was distinct in the birds I compared, also with the same
>lighting, and facing the same direction. A birder from Calvert County,
>who was there at the same time I was, made the same comparison, and also
>thought that the Kelp(?) Gull was a darker, crisper black.
I was one of the observers on Wednesday morning and am probably the Calvert
County birder that Elliot mentioned. The probable Kelp Gull was by far, the
most handsome gull around -- I was struck by the crispness of the black and
white colors of the bird. No Great-black Backed around at that particular
time matched this coloration and while we were able to view the two birds
in the same scope view, the GBBG was quite a bit in the distance to the
Kelp Gull. Still, it did not seem that if they were side-by-side, the GBBG
would have matched the blackness of the Kelp Gull.
I was able to hear the bird vocalize on one occasion. It lasted maybe 5
seconds and it took the opportunity to call during the time I went back to
my car for another roll of film. So despite having a tape recorder with me,
I was not close enough to the gull to get the call on tape. Not being
familiar with the call of the LBBG, I cannot comment on the sounds I heard
(sadly).
///////// Arlene Ripley
| || Calvert County, MD
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